Limp tailed cat

[Silverage]

When we came back from town yesterday we noticed our 12 yo female DSH could no longer raise her tail. It was totally floppy in fact.

A bit of Googling shows this is most probably nerve damage resulting from a trauma, usually a car. There are no injuries at all on her, she appears to be in no pain and she is eating normally. Just a bit unsettled because her tail is not doing as it is told. A complication is often they lose the ability to empty their bladders and bowels by themselves. I let her out this morning and the bladder doesn’t appear to be a problem (once she got her tail out of the way), so I’m hopeful this won’t be the case here.

I’m waiting for the vet to open so I can arrange to take her in for a check-up.

[Doofus]

It might not be serious. Our dog bruised his tail and couldn't move it for a couple of days until it recovered.

[Silverage]

Doofus said:

It might not be serious. Our dog bruised his tail and couldn't move it for a couple of days until it recovered.

I’m hoping not. I’ve no idea how she’s done it as she’s the world’s laziest cat and hardly moves. She never goes anywhere near the road so it can’t be a car. She’s booked in at the vet for 10am so we’ll find out shortly.

[RemarkLima]

Our cat had something similar, but probably from a fight with another cat... She was ok after a couple of days. Hopefully just a bit of R&B required!

[Silverage]

RemarkLima said:

Our cat had something similar, but probably from a fight with another cat... She was ok after a couple of days. Hopefully just a bit of R&B required!

This is what I’m hoping for. I’ll hand over a 3 figure sum to the vet shortly to make sure though.

[garythesign]

Good luck at the vet

[Silverage]

garythesign said:

Good luck at the vet

Cheers.

Just back. Looks like a standard tail pull without complications. She’s got some pain killers and anti-inflammatories, an appointment to come back on Wednesday and a £68 bill which I didn’t think was too bad for an emergency Sunday morning appointment.

The vet reckons it should start to improve in a couple of days and probably be back to normal in 7-10. I’d really like to know how she did it - I wonder if it was one her nine lives used?

[nordboy]

We had this with one of old cats, now long departed.

Turns out she'd been shot by an air rifle/ pistol. So her's never got better.

[Tyre Smoke]

Who would have pulled her tail?

[Silverage]

Tyre Smoke said:

Who would have pulled her tail?

It how they refer to any injury that involves the tail being pulled, so they get it trapped in something or something (dog, another cat) is after them and manages to grab their tail during the retreat.

Apparently it's quite common though I've never heard of it before.

[Big Red Cat]

One of my cats also had a limp tail. He must have been in a fight with another cat, been bitten on his tail & developed an abscess.
Vet drained abscess & cat back to normal in a few days.
Hope your cat recovers quickly.

[Silverage]

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to offer good wishes.

She’s sat here feeling very sorry for herself but I’m almost certain I’ll be reporting a full recovery on this thread in a week or so.

[solo2]

I'm sorry to hear she got hurt. Fingers crossed she recovers use.

[Silverage]

A week later and I’m pleased to report she has almost fully recovered the use of her tail. I expect another 2-3 days will see her right.

[garythesign]

Great news